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World champion Juan Manuel Lopez arrives in New York City with Team Juanma on Monday to prepare for his upcoming title fight against challenger Rogers Mtagwa on Top Rank’s “Island Warriors” – Latin Fury 12 Pay Per View event on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Also on this doubleheader card, WBA Featherweight Champion Yuriorkis Gamboa of Cuba will defend his title against challenger Whyber Garcia of Panama. Top Rank promotes this event in association with Arena Box-Promotion and PR Best Boxing. Click here for more photos…

The opponent for top-rated superbantamweight Antonio Escalante (21-2, 13 KOs) has been named for his Oct. 30 fight at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso. Escalante will be taking on Dominican Carlos Fulgencio (11-3-1, 7 KOs).

Things got a little testy at the final press conference five days before the big “Universum Champions Night” on Saturday at the Stadthalle in Rostock as the combatants faced off for the first time today in the Hanseatic city. With two double female world championships, three heavyweight fights and four other high-profile fights, this card is will be an October boxing highlight. (more…)

Top East London trainer Welsh Mnguni died in his sleep at his home in Duncan Village near East London on Friday night. He was 40. Welsh is the nephew of the well known boxing promoter Mzimasi Mnguni. Mnguni who had not been sick was discovered by his daughter in his bedroom when she noticed that he was not breathing, but it was too late. The exact cause of his death is not known at this stage. As a young man he worked at the Eyethu Boxing Club as a fitness trainer. He assisted in the corner with top fighters like world champions Vuyani Bungu, Mbulelo Botile and Hawk Makepula. Before his death he operated the Gompo Boxing Club in Duncan Village and was in the corner of South African featherweight champion Luthando Vukuza when he won the title in July this year.

A fight between WBA cruiserweight champion Guillermo Jones (36-3-2, 28 KOs) and official challenger Valery Brudov (38-2, 27 KOs) on October 24th will not take place. “We couldn’t to it for the money they offered my client. Valery Brudov should instead fight for an interim world championship,” Wladimir Kushnir, the manager of the Russian boxer, informed Fightnews.com.

OPBF#3/JBC#1 middleweight Norifumi Suzuki (16-2-1, 11 KOs), 160, looked impressive as he dropped Petchnameek Sithsaithong (11-7, 2 KOs), 160, three times and halted him at 0:23 of the third round in a scheduled eight on Monday in Tokyo, Japan. The hard-punching Suzuki caught the shorter Thailander with a well-timed left hook, and sent him sprawling to the deck twice in the second session. A single countering short right just to the button was a haymaker that pulverized him so effectively that the third man stopped counting and halted the proceedings. Promoter: Yokohama Hikari Promotions.

WBA#13 OPBF lightweight champ Kengo Nagashima (38-3-2, 18 KOs), 138, needed only 55 seconds of the opening session, as he blasted out Thailander Jonlasit Muangsurin (7-6, 3 KOs), 134.5, with a single southpaw left on Sunday in Shimizu, Japan. It was a surprisingly short affair as Nagashima had been regarded as a soft-punching speedster and no one had expected his so quick demolition. Promoter: Mitsuyama Promotions.

Sampson Lewkowicz is one of the most respected and influential boxing agents in the world and is responsible for guiding the careers of many world champions including the world’s best featherweight Chris John. Fightnews spoke to Sampson about the boxers he looks after, his connection with Australian based boxers Paul Briggs, Hussein Hussein and Noufell Ben Rabah, as well as how he regards Daniel Geale as a future major body world middleweight champion. (more…)

A knockout is almost always thrilling, right up until the point when the victim stays on the canvas, motionless and unconscious despite the best efforts of trained medical professionals to revive him. Then the spectacular instantly transforms into the scary. And fighters like Damacio Page stop pumping their fists in the air, cease yelling in jubilation at the top of their lungs, and become as sober as if it were a relative or friend lying there . . . Click here for more by Frank Curreri, WEC

Roy Jones Jr touched down in Australia last week for a two week promotional tour ahead of his challenge to IBO cruiserweight champion Danny Green inked for the 18,000 capacity Acer Arena in Sydney on December 2nd. He has already visited Sydney and on Friday came to Green’s hometown of Perth, Western Australia to meet both fans and assembled media. Both fighters were involved in the Telethon in Perth which is a 24 hour charity event for needy children in Western Australia and which raised $3m over the weekend. Both auctioned boxing memorabilia and hosted a charity lunch on Friday and discussed their upcoming fight, the biggest in Australian boxing history on Saturday at a packed Perth Convention Centre. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was also an interested guest in attendance and donated $1.5m to the appeal on behalf of the Australian government. (more…)

WBA Inter-Continental light heavyweight champion Vyacheslav Uzelkov (21-0, 13 KOs) will fight on October 21th in the Kiev Sports Palace Arena. The next defense of his title will be the main event of a card promoted by the Klitschko brothers’ K2 East Promotions. Also in the ring that night will be middleweight prospect Maksim Bursak (18-0, 7 KOs). Opponents for Uzelkov and Bursak will be announced soon.

Muhammad Ali™ returns to the ring! To introduce their new line of Muhammad Ali™ replica products, Everlast Worldwide has launched an interactive website dedicated to The Greatest Of All Time™. Explore the interactive Everlast canvas to discover rare photos of ALI, classic ALI audio clips, replica products used by Muhammad Ali™ throughout his career, as well as printable cards featuring his training methods. The collection kicks off the Everlast’s 100th Anniversary celebration and features replica products Ali used throughout his career, updated with modern brand technologies. He Believed. Do You? Greatness Is Within. Visit www.everlast.com/ali and explore for yourself.

Manny Pacquiao trains at the Shape Up Gym inside the Cooyeesan Hotel in Baguio City over the weekend. He is assisted in the plyometrics program by conditioning coach Alex Ariza. Pacquiao is revving up for the November 14th fight with Miguel Cotto.

WBO junior featherweight champion Juan Manuel ‘Juanma’ Lopez (26-0, 24 KOs) will defend his title this Saturday against challenger Rogers Mtagwa. The bout is being promoted by Top Rank and is billed as “Island Warriors – Latin Fury 12.” The site will be the famed Madison Square Garden. The Puerto Rico native Lopez, who is promoted by Top Rank and PR Best Boxing has fought on two undercards earlier in his career at the Garden but this will be his first time headlining in a main event there. Lopez spoke with Fightnews on his upcoming fight as he closed out his training camp. He will depart from Puerto Rico to New York today. (more…)

Fall was brought in with a literal bang Saturday night at Fitzgerald’s Casino, with PrizeFight Boxing’s “Fights at the Fitz” series. With five fights on the card, and an opening bout that set a high standard, the night promised a bright display of entertainment. As the evening wore on however, a few of the bouts didn’t feature that expected burst of color. The six-round main event, 187-pound cruiserweight Daniel Sackey (12-1-1, 6 KOs) and the 195-pound Ross Thompson (27-13, 17 KOs), in which Sackey won by unanimous decision, would underwhelm the crowd. Each round in their fight looked very similar to the next as Sackey diligently pressed the action while Thompson was compelled to counter and hold. There were no knock downs in the fight. (More)

A professional boxing show was held on Saturday night in Milwaukee Wisconsin for the first time in several years. In the eight round main event, Bazooka Joe Linenfelser of Illinois upped his record to 8-0-1 getting a points victory over fellow 165 pounder Ivan Ledon from Las Vegas Nevada who’s record fell to 12-9-1.
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The undercard was full of four round contests, with the night’s co-main attraction match-up between Harry ‘The Ho Chunk Hammer’ Funmaker of Fon du Loc Wisconsin and the man known to the world as “Butterbean,” Eric Esch the nearly 400 lb. heavyweight who is also known as the ‘King of the Four-Rounders.’ The bout was a combination of hay-makers, holding and some trash talking. At the end it was Funmaker who was awarded a split decision victory by a narrow margin. (more…)

Looks like Troy Rowland will be the next opponent of Julio Cesar Chávez jr. on Top Rank’s November 14 “Firepower” super card headlined by Manny Pacquiao against Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Chávez Jr. (40-0-1, 30 KOs) and Rowland (25-2, 7 KOs) will meet in a ten round super welterweight fight. Chavez Jr. has said thathe’s hoping to land a world title shot in May or July of next year in the Plaza Mexico. Besides Chávez, Jesus Soto-Karass and Alfonso Gómez will likely meet in a welterweight clash.

World middleweight contender Sam Soliman (37-11, 15 KOs) was impressive in stopping Australian super middleweight champion Les Piper (10-3-3, 2 KOs) in seven rounds on Sunday at the Penisula, Docklands, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Soliman controlled the action over his aggressive opponent by outworking him most of the rounds. In round seven Piper was dropped twice by hard body shots at which point referee Ignatius Missailidis crowned the Melbourne boxer. IBF #14 Soliman targeted the best middleweights in the world. “I am after the IBF middleweight champion Sebastian Sylvester who I regard as a good champion but he does not have the skills or the experience against the top level middleweights to defeat me. I am prepared to go fight him in Germany and I will beat him easy.”

In the main supporting bout. WBO #14 140-pounder Lance Gostelow (20-2, 14 KOs) outscored Fatai Onikeke (23-4, 20 KOs) over twelve rounds. Scores were 120-108, 119-109, 120-108. Onikeke was the aggressor but he was outworked by Gostelow who connected with effective combinations boxing on the backmove. Former IBF jr lightweight champion Barry Michael said. “Lance Gostelow is the best boxer in Australia in my opinion.”

Boxing will return to Juarez on Oct. 17 when Promociones del Pueblo will stage the first big card to hit the bordertown since December 2007. In the main event, Javier “Zorro” Castro (21-2, 18 KOs) will take on former contender Edgar Barcenas (21-8-4, 15 KOs), of Mexico City, for the WBC Fecombox lightweight title. (more…)

WBA/IBF super bantamweight champion Celestino Caballero (33-2, 23 KOs) will now be trained by Jeff Mayweather. Mayweather moments ago told Fightnews that an official contract was sent to him by Team Cabellero and he has accepted the terms of the contract. Mayweather, uncle to boxing superstar Floyd “Money” Mayweather, previously led Sultan Ibragimov to the WBO heavyweight title in 2007.

Vyacheslav Senchenko (30-0, 20 KOs) retained his WBA welterweight title with a lopsided unanimous decision over WBA #15 Japanese Motoki Sasaki (32-8-1, 20 KOs) three hours ago at Druzhba Palace of Sports in Donetsk, Ukraine. Senchenko controlled the action till the sixth round, when Sasaki cut his right eyebrow with an intentional headbutt. The Japanese fighter was deducted two points and the cut hadn’t helped him much either, as Senchenko continued to dominate his shorter opponent till the final bell yet without an earlier ease. Scores were 119-107 (thrice) for the local hero. Shane Mosley is widely recognized as the only meaningful WBA champion in this weight class.

EBU featherweight champion Oleg Yefimovich (now 17-1, 11 KOs) continued his reign of terror in Europe by becoming only the second fighter to stop durable Brit Esham Pickering (34-9, 13 KOs) inside the distance. The former world title challenger was down twice after left hands in round two and was finally knocked out by highly ranked (WBO #7, IBF #9, WBC #10 and WBA #11) Yefimovich in the third after a powerful left hook. More to come…

Sherzod Husanov (14-0-1, 7 KOs) is a new WBC International light middleweight champion, following a one-sided twelve-round unanimous decision over bitter rival and previously unbeaten Timur Nergadze (12-1-1, 2 KOs) in the final fight of Edmund Lipinski grand memorial, which ended four hours ago at RSUPC sports arena in Moscow, Russia. Click Here for More Photos

Antonin Decarie left things literally to the last second and scored a knockout of Terrence Cauthen (33-6 9KO) at 2:59 of the 10th and final round. The Montreal welterweight who moves 23-0 with his 7th stoppage was the aggressor on the afternoon and went after his New Jersey opponent who was credited by at least one judge of winning the rounds four thru seven. Come round eight though, Cauthen who took the fight on less than a week’s notice seemed to have hit a wall and had noticeably dropped his hands. Decarie took full advantage and landed a right with everything on it that took the southpaw down to the canvas for a count of eight. “The ninth round I tried to finish him but I was just too wide with my shots, said Decarie after the fight. “The 10th round though I just settled down and managed to catch him.” Cauthen ate a right to the body that left him gasping for air and referee Michael Griffin calling it off with the fighter still wincing and quickly making his way to a waiting stool.

Make it 18 for 18 as middleweight knockout sensation David Lemieux destroyed former ‘Contender’ series star Donnie McCrary (24-10-2 13KO) at 2:40 of the opening round. After exchanging combinations in the middle of the ring, McCrary walked straight back with his hands down and was brutalized by a Lemieux right hand, dropping the Missouri hard to the canvas in a crumpled heap. McCrary managed to beat the count, but Lemieux managed a right to the body and followed it immediately with another to the head which had McCrary down and out and the fight being called immediately. (more…)

Veteran Panamanian fighter Miguel Callist visited the Pedro Alcazar Gym in Panama to give some advice to his unbeaten friend Alberto Mosquera, who was mentioned as a possible opponent for WBA interim super lightweight champion Marcos Maidana. “You took the correct decision on rejecting the offer,” Callist said, “Maidana is stronger than many people imagine. When you hit him with a very good punch and you think he is really hurt, then he becomes stronger.” Callist faced Maidana in Argentina in December 2006, losing by TKO in the third round of a short but exciting battle. “I know you have very good boxing skills as I do, but you need to wait for a better moment. Maidana is in his prime and you still can get more experience and very good physical condition,” Callist added. “I was very well prepared, had a world of experience and he beat me in three rounds. With your technical skills you may beat him…but not now.” Mosquera´s record is ten wins, no losses and a no contest.

“Sweetness” Allan Green handed “Marvelous” Tarvis Simms his first career defeat in a fight that started late Friday and ended early Saturday morning on an exciting tripleheader on ShoBox: The New Generation. “It went exactly how I expected,” said the favored Green, who won the super middleweight 10-round decision unanimously, 98-92, 99-91 and 97-93. Green was fighting on SHOWTIME for the fifth time in his career and who moved his record to 29-1 (20 KOs). “I was just in better shape than he was. I won the fight. I didn’t care how I did it. I knew I was going to win the fight.” (more…)

Unbeaten WBC#2/WBA#4 super-feather champ Takashi Uchiyama (13-0, 10 KOs), 130, kept his OPBF belt as he pummeled OPBF#1 Philippine titlist Aaron Melgarejo (17-7-1, 6 KOs), 130, into submission at 1:01 of the seventh round on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Uchiyama, formerly four-time national amateur champ, registered his fifth defense of the regional belt when his lopsided assault caused the loser’s cornerman to toss in the towel for surrender. Melgarejo positively threw solid left-right combinations, almost all of which were averted by the champ’s excellent defensive skills. Uchiyama, one of the brightest prospects here, often displayed well-timed counters and wicked body shots that visibly weakened the game challenger.
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In a companion OPBF title go, WBA#3/WBC#5 super-fly Kohei Kono (24-4, 8 KOs), 114.75, also retained his belt as he surprisingly hit the deck in the first, but dropped back OPBF#1 Marvin Tampus (21-9-2, 13 KOs), 114.75, in the final session, winning a unanimous nod (116-111 twice and 116-110) over twelve. Kono had previously failed to wrest the WBA 115-pound belt from compatriot and current champ Nobuo Nashiro via split duke in September last year, and regained his OPBF throne by defeating Filipino ruler Daniel Ferreras on points this May. This was Kono’s initial defense since. Promoter: Watanabe Promotions.